Egypt's Aqarmap.com adds feature to share real estate listings

Aqarmap.com's new Exchange feature aims to give real estate brokers the same functionality as the US MLS, says Almsaodi.

Published: 17 July 2018 - 7:03 a.m.

By: Mark Sutton

Egyptian real estate
portal Aqarmap.com has launched a new feature which it says will match the Multiple
Listing System (MLS) widely used by US real estate brokers.

The Exchange feature will allow brokers to
share standardized listings of properties, to improve efficiency in the market.
Exchange has been added to Aqarmap Live, a mobile-only CRM solution that is
used by many real estate brokerages in Egypt. It allows brokers to exchange
buyer requests and listings securely within a network of vetted brokers without
sharing any sensitive data that do not want to reveal.

Amad Almsaodi, CEO and Founder of Aqarmap
stated: “Unlike the US market where Real Estate brokers and agents exchange
listings information via the MLS databases, developing markets suffer from
extreme inefficiencies due to the lack of collaboration between brokers. This
typically results in missed opportunities and properties remaining offered on
the market for longer periods of time. Brokers in markets like Egypt protect
their listings information due to the lack of exclusivity contracts, which are
the standard in markets like the US. This challenge was the source of
inspiration behind Aqarmap Exchange.”

“We basically automated a process that was
typically done manually by most brokers, and then we helped our customers scale
their network to all the brokers that are already using our CRM solution” said
Maice Zekry, Product Manager at Aqarmap.

Aqarmap started in Egypt in 2011 and expanded
to Saudi Arabia in 2014.

The company says it is currently in
advanced talks with several investors as it plans to raise capital for further
expansion to other MENA region markets.